After I just read the first volume of Rumiko Takahashi’s latest work “Rin-Ne,” I was dying to read the rest of this series and I managed to pick up thAfter I just read the first volume of Rumiko Takahashi’s latest work “Rin-Ne,” I was dying to read the rest of this series and I managed to pick up the second volume and I enjoyed this volume as much as the first volume!

Sakura Mamiya and Rinne Rokudo continue to go on even more adventures that deal with the afterlife, including trying to help an Ochimusha Ghost find his lost love and helping the ghost of a school girl that drowned in the swimming pool move on to the afterlife. Later on, however, Sakura and Rinne end up meeting a young man who is a devil named Masato who is plotting his vengeance on Rinne by stealing the soul of a comatose teenage boy and sending him to debt hell!

Can Rinne rescue the boy’s soul before it is too late?

Read this volume to find out!

Wow! This volume was just as hilarious and exciting as the first volume! I just loved the way that Rumiko Takahashi is able to combine humor, drama and horror into this series so far, as it makes the storytelling even more interesting and unique to read and I just love the way that each character is being written. I love the fact that Rinne and Sakura’s relationship is not as aggressive as Rumiko Takahashi’s other works like “Inuyasha” and “Ranma ½” as it made them really stand out from Rumiko Takahashi’s other couples and I enjoy seeing Rinne and Sakura working together to get the ghosts back to the afterlife while trying to learn more about each other. What I really loved about this volume is that we are finally getting some kind of story arc in this series as the story line that involved Masato seems to implicate that there will be more trouble for Rinne and Sakura up ahead and that Masato might be one of the first threats that Rinne has to face in his adventures and I am curious to see how that will play out in future volumes. Rumiko Takahashi’s artwork continues to be gorgeous and creative as the scenes of Debt Hell are amusing to look at as Hell in this volume is depicted as a casino rather than a terrifying place where demons and monsters run rampant in a fiery pit.

Even though there are not as much scary images in this volume as in the last volume, the fact that this series has some scenes of the afterlife might disturb some readers who might find some of the demons in this book a bit disturbing to look at.

Overall, “Rin-Ne Volume Two” is a fantastic follow up to the first volume of this intriguing series and I definitely cannot wait to check out the rest of the volumes in this series!

Now, I have read many paranormal romance novels by different authors, but I must admit that “Shadow Game,” the first book in Christine Feehan’s “GhostNow, I have read many paranormal romance novels by different authors, but I must admit that “Shadow Game,” the first book in Christine Feehan’s “Ghost Walker” series was the first time I had ever read any of Christine Feehan’s works! This is really surprising to me because even though I saw like a million books written by Christine Feehan at my local library, I never once thought about picking up any of her books and now I seriously wished I had!

Peter Whitney was a renowned scientist who was able to create an experiment that would help enhance the psychic abilities of an elite squadron in the military and his equally brilliant daughter Lily Whitney would help out on his accomplishments. One tragic day however, Peter Whitney starts to notice that something was going wrong with his experiments as the subjects in question, a group of soldiers who volunteered for this experiment which among them included Captain Ryland Miller, were suddenly dying of mysterious circumstances. When Peter Whitney discovered about who was sabotaging his experiments, he ends up being murdered before he was able to tell his daughter Lily everything about his experiments. Luckily, since Lily is a telepath herself, her father was able to communicate with her that she needs to check out the videos of his experiments in order to right the wrongs he had done in the past before he died. Now, Lily is determined to discover the dark secret of her father’s experiments while trying to figure out who murdered her father. But in order to learn more about his experiments, Lily has to try to release the soldiers who were being experimented on and there she meets the strong willed Captain Ryland Miller, who she immediately begins to fall in love with. Lily and Ryland will soon discover that there is more between them then just a telepathic attraction with each other as they discover the dark secrets of Peter Whitney’s experiments together.

Wow! I seriously cannot believe that I had not read any of Christine Feehan’s books before this one! Christine Feehan had done a brilliant job at writing this book as the relationships between each character felt so real and raw and I really enjoyed the bantering between the characters, especially between Ryland and Lily! I also loved the way that Christine Feehan managed to mix romance and action into this book as I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat trying to see if Lily and Ryland discovered who murdered Peter Whitney while developing feelings for each other. What I loved the most about this book were the characters themselves as they were interesting and fun to read about, especially Lily and Ryland! Lily Whitney was such a fantastic heroine as she is smart and courageous and I loved the fact that she was willing to put her life on the line in order to right the wrongs of her father and protect Ryland and his men. I also loved the fact that she has so much scientific knowledge about the experiments that her father was engaged in as it showed how she is willing to use her intelligence to help the people she cared about. Oh man, Captain Ryland Miller, you wicked devil, you! I have to seriously say that Captain Ryland Miller is one of my most favorite heroes ever as I loved the way that he cares about Lily and is willing to do everything in his power to protect her from harm. I also loved his bantering with Lily as I just cannot help but giggle and feel tingly inside whenever he is being so sexy towards her. One of my favorite quotes from this book is this:

“Your name is Lily Whitney. You are the woman I want at my side night and day. I want you to be the mother of my children someday. I want you for my lover. I want you for the person I turn to when the world gets to be too much.”

For anyone who does not like language in a book, this book does have some language, although it is not as bad as some romance novels. Also, there are many scenes in this book where the characters are in danger of being murdered and that might be too intense for some people to handle.

Overall, “Shadow Game” is a truly fantastic read for fellow paranormal romance fans and I am definitely going to check out the rest of the “Ghost Walker” series!

I have been reading many children’s books by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for many years now, which includes “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly S

I have been reading many children’s books by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for many years now, which includes “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” and “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” and I had enjoyed most of their stories! So, when I finally stumbled upon one of their more recent collaborations, “Seen Art?” I just had to give this book a try!

The book starts off with a young boy looking for his friend Art and when he asked a lady about where his friend Art is, the lady said:

“MoMa?” asked the lady.

“Uh…no, he’s just a friend.”

“Just down Fifty-Third Street here. In that beautiful new building. You can’t miss it.”

So, the boy goes to the Museum of Modern Art to find his friend, but everywhere he goes, everyone keeps showing him a different painting or sculpture, instead of showing him where his friend is.

Will the boy be able to find his friend Art?

Read this book to find out!

Now, I will admit that when I first saw the cover of this book, I was thinking to myself that I might not like this book because the cover looked boring. Man, this really tells me to not judge a book by its cover as I really enjoyed this book and all the creativity being put into it! Jon Scieszka as always had done a brilliant job at writing this book as the humor is cute and witty and I loved seeing how the young boy is trying to tell everyone at the Museum that he only came there to look for his friend Art, but they keep on misunderstanding his concerns by showing him various artworks instead. Lane Smith’s artwork is truly surreal yet creative at the same time, as we are treated to having the real life artwork from the Museum of Modern Art pasted alongside Lane Smith’s own illustrations of the characters and it really brings out the creativity in this story! I also loved the fact that there is information about each artwork being used in this book at the back of this book as it helped me distinguish who had done each artwork, such as recognizing Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting “The Starry Night.”

Overall, “Seen Art?” is a truly creative book for children who enjoy the beauty of art and who are fans of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s works! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate about this book, unless the artwork is a little too strange for some children.

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

Now, I will admit that I was actually

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

Now, I will admit that I was actually introduced to “Anne of Green Gables” through the animated TV series that used to come on PBS and I remembered liking this TV series when I was little. Now, I finally had the chance to actually read L.M. Montgomery’s all-time classic book “Anne of Green Gables” and I was surely not disappointed with the results!

Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert wanted to have a child who could help them around the house, so they decided to adopt a child from the orphanage and they wished that the child was a young boy. Unfortunately, when Matthew went to the orphanage, he realizes that the owners of the orphanage had made a mistake and gave him a young girl named Anne Shirley instead of a young boy. Even though at first, Matthew and Marilla tried to take Anne Shirley back to the orphanage, they soon grew to love the young girl as Anne Shirley is unlike any other little girl they had ever came across. It turns out that Anne Shirley has a vivid imagination and she expresses her love for life through her poetic statements that would make anyone fall in love with her instantly. The town of Avonlea will never be the same again!

Now, I had heard about this book for years now, but I never had the chance to really read this book due to me spending so much time reading other middle grade books. Now, I finally got the chance to read this book and I will admit that this book has been nothing but pure love and creativity! L.M. Montgomery had done a brilliant job at writing this book as the narrative is extremely poetic and flowery and I just find myself falling in love with all of the characters from Avonlea! I honestly think the best part about this book was the characters themselves as they all brought something different and interesting to the story. Anne Shirley is honestly one of my most favorite young heroines of all time as she is constantly shown as being optimistic in her goals and the fact that she always makes everything in her life seem so dramatic in a good way really made her into a truly interesting character. I also connect so much with Anne Shirley because I used to have a vivid imagination when I was little and I would usually try to reenact my imaginations in real life, just like how Anne has often done so in this book. I loved Anne’s relationships with her fellow students, especially with Diana Barry as it shows how close Anne is towards Diana and I love how they are willing to be together throughout their lives as it shows how inspiring their friendship is! I also enjoyed Anne’s rivalry with Gilbert Blythe as it was interesting seeing Anne still harbor resentment towards Gilbert when he called her “carrots” and pulled on her pigtails early on and yet as the story goes on, you start seeing Anne going from hating Gilbert Blythe to having some feelings for him. It really makes me excited to see where Anne and Gilbert’s relationship will go after this book! I loved how L.M. Montgomery made the narrative so beautiful to read as I really felt a connection with Anne’s journey from being an imaginative young girl to being a grown and mature young woman and there were so many quotes in this book that were so memorable, such as this little gem:

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”

Overall, “Anne of Green Gables” is easily one of the most beautiful books I had ever read and I definitely cannot wait to check out the rest of the “Anne of Green Gables” books in this wonderful series!

Now, I have been a huge fan of Rumiko Takahashi’s works for many years (with “Ranma ½” and “Inuyasha” being my all-time favorites). So, when I heard t

Now, I have been a huge fan of Rumiko Takahashi’s works for many years (with “Ranma ½” and “Inuyasha” being my all-time favorites). So, when I heard that Rumiko Takahashi was making a brand new manga series called “Rin-ne,” my little fan girl heart just cried out in ecstasy since I have been dying to see more new works from Rumiko Takahashi and this volume of “Rin-ne” has definitely been worth reading!

When Sakura Mamiya was a child, she went to her Grandmother’s house and she ended up disappearing in the woods. She was able to return home all safe and sound, but in the meantime, she ended up getting the power to be able to see ghosts. Now Sakura is a much older high school student and she is getting used to her powers, although she wishes that the ghosts would stop pestering her. One day however, Rinne Rokudo, a student who has been absent since the start of the school year, finally arrives in class and it turns out that only Sakura can see Rinne and it seems that Rinne is able to see ghosts himself!

Who is this mysterious boy and what kind of adventures will Sakura go on with Rinne?

Read this volume to find out!

I have always been a huge fan of Rumiko Takahashi’s works and one of the things that I really enjoyed about Rumiko Takahashi’s works is that she is able to present the same scenario in each of her works (having the two main characters arguing with each other throughout the manga and then eventually fall in love with each other); and yet each theme to her works are different from each other, such as “Ranma ½” being all about martial arts, “Urusei Yatsura” being all about aliens and “Inuyasha” being all about demons. “Rin-ne” is no different from what I have read from Rumiko Takahashi’s works, even though the idea about this series taking place in the afterlife is new and extremely intriguing. I loved the way that Rumiko Takahashi manages to balance between horror and humor in this volume as the idea about a teenage girl being able to talk to ghosts is a creepy concept in of itself, but there is so much humor going on between Rinne and Sakura that the story is much more engaging to read rather than being outright scary. It seems that this series is a cross between “Ranma ½” and “Inuyasha” as it is much lighter in tone than “Inuyasha,” but it is a bit darker in tone than “Ranma ½.” However, this series was able to combine these elements by using “Ranma ½’s” boisterous humor and “Inuyasha’s” horror material to a truly intriguing extent! I also loved the fact that Rumiko Takahashi explains about the Japanese culture in the back of this volume as it helped me understand more about the Japanese terms used in this volume such as “hime” meaning “princess” and “yoroshiku” meaning “hello” or “best regards!” Rumiko Takahashi’s artwork is as usual gorgeous and hilarious to look at as I loved seeing the characters’ expressions on their faces whenever they are reacting to the strange events that happen around them and I always enjoyed seeing the images where the characters get involved in slapstick violence as it is truly hilarious to look at!

Just a bit of a warning for anyone who wants to try this series out; this volume has a bit of scary imagery, especially concerning some of the ghosts that both Rinne and Sakura meet up with and they might be creepy for some readers to handle. However, since this volume is full of comedy, it would be difficult to really be frightened of some of these images, especially if they are seen during the story’s more hilarious moments.

Overall, “Rin-ne Volume One” is a fantastic introduction to Rumiko Takahashi’s new series “Rin-ne” and I will definitely be looking out for the rest of this series in the near future!

After reading Jon Scieszka’s famous children’s books “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” and “The True Story of the Three Little Pig

After reading Jon Scieszka’s famous children’s books “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” and “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” I was really excited to check out some of Jon Scieszka’s latest works! Lo and behold, I happened to stumble upon one of Jon Scieszka’s most recent children’s book “Battle Bunny (or Birthday Bunny),” co-written by Mac Barnett along with illustrations by Matthew Myers (along with some help from Alex) and this was a pretty interesting read!

Story 1: Birthday Bunny

Today is a special day for Bunny as he realizes that today is his birthday and spends most of the story going to his friends Crow, Badger, Squirrel, Turtle and Bear and telling them that today is a special day indeed! Unfortunately, all of Birthday Bunny’s friends do not seem to realize that today is his birthday and Bunny is upset over this.

Will Bunny’s friends remember his birthday?

Story 2: Battle Bunny

Today is a special day for Battle Bunny as he starts plotting to take over the world by cutting down all of the trees in the forest! Battle Bunny meets up his enemies Crow, El Tejon the Badger Wrestler, Sergeant Squirrel of the Robot Police Force, Shaolin Bear and Ninja Turtle and he ends up beating up all of them. It seems that no one will be able to defeat Battle Bunny and his plans of world domination until a small boy named Alex steps up to take down Battle Bunny!

Will Alex save the day?

Read this book to find out what happens in both of these stories!

I have actually heard about this book through one of my book friends’ reviews and as I was reading their review on this book, I was immediately interested and I went right away to my library to pick up this book! This was probably one of the most creative picture books I had ever read as the format is quite unique from what I usually read from picture books. I loved the way that both Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett wrote this story as you have the story about Birthday Bunny being the actual story going on here while the story about Battle Bunny is the one that is being written over the “Birthday Bunny” story (with childlike drawings and multiple crossing out of words being shown in loving detail). I must admit that I enjoyed the “Battle Bunny” story a bit more than the “Birthday Bunny” story because well, the “Birthday Bunny” story is your typical “main character is celebrating their birthday with their friends” plot, while the “Battle Bunny” story is full of awesome moments of Battle Bunny battling his enemies while that was the story that was being written over the “Birthday Bunny” story with childlike drawings being drawn all over the pages! Matthew Myers’ artwork is truly creative and cute at some parts as the drawings of Birthday Bunny are drawn in a cute and realistic way while the artwork for Battle Bunny are drawn in stick figures and has militaristic accessories being drawn on the birthday bunny characters to make them all look tougher than how they are really drawn.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because there were times where it was difficult to read through this book due to having to read two different stories going on at the same time. Now, this is a pretty creative way to write a story, but this might be pretty hard for some children to read through, especially if they are not used to reading two different stories going on at the same time.

Overall, “Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny)” is a truly creative story for both children and adults to read as it is full of comedy and action that will last for years! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the writing style might confuse some children.

Now, you know that whenever you read fairy tales and folktales that have a “dark and spooky” forest in the plot, you are in for some se

Introduction:

Now, you know that whenever you read fairy tales and folktales that have a “dark and spooky” forest in the plot, you are in for some serious horror (as “Little Red Riding Hood” has shown and lo and behold, there is a story similar to “Little Red Riding Hood” in this graphic novel)! Well, the new graphic novel “Through the Woods” by Emily Carroll will definitely show you the true meaning of horror when it comes to going through the dark and spooky woods!

What is this story about?

In this graphic novel, there are a collection of five stories, including the introduction and the conclusion that are full of terror as the main characters encounter various horrors as they ventured into the woods. The five stories in this collection of horror stories are:

1. Our Neighbor’s House2. A Lady’s Hands are Cold3. His Face All Red4. My Friend Janna5. The Nesting Place

What I loved about this story:

Emily Carroll’s writing: Wow! Now, I will admit that I had never read a graphic novel quite like this before, even though I had read many graphic novels that dealt with horror. This graphic novel was a unique case as it combined fantasy with horror and the stories in this graphic novel were truly creative and haunting to read through! Emily Carroll’s writing was truly beautiful and haunting at the same time and I loved how the writing was written in a poetic sense as it gave the stories an old time feel while building up suspense for each characters’ situations. I also loved the fact that each story dealt with the main character discovering a terrible secret that often comes out of the woods and sometimes the characters could get out of those horrible situations while other times whatever horrible force comes out of the woods manages to get them no matter what and that brings a sense of scariness to the stories as we do not know what kind of force can come out of the woods at night. Emily Carroll had written many fantastic passages in this graphic novel that really grasps the intensity and dreamy atmosphere of the stories, but one passage that I particularly liked was during the story “A Lady’s Hands are Cold” that regards the death of a mysterious woman in the story:

“I married my love in the springtime,But by summer, he’d locked me away.He murdered me dead by the autumn, And by winter, I was naught but decay.It’s cold where I am and so lonely,But in loneliness I will remain,Unloved, unavenged and forgotten,Until I am whole once again.”

The artwork: Emily Carroll’s artwork in this graphic novel was truly stellar as the artwork looks quite creepy and creative and they really bring in the scariness of the stories in this collection. I loved the way that the woods always looked so scary and foreboding on every image as I truly get chills whenever I looked at the shadowed and twisted trees in the stories.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like scary content dealing with supernatural horror elements, there are many scenes in this book where young children go wandering off into the forest by themselves and the fear that something bad will happen to them as the situations continue to rise up in each story. Also, many of the stories seem to end on an anticlimactic note as the stories end a bit abruptly before any real resolution is really solved. I probably would have preferred it if the graphic novel was a bit longer in their stories so that way the endings of each story would not seem so rushed.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Through the Woods” is a truly fantastic collection of scary stories that will surely be a treat to read during Halloween!

After reading the first two volumes of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ awesome horror series “Fatale,” I just have to pick up the third

Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ awesome horror series “Fatale,” I just have to pick up the third volume of this series “West of Hell” and I found this volume just as enjoyable as the previous two volumes!

What is this story about?

Let us take a break from the adventures of Nicolas Lash and explore the dark secrets that surround the mysterious beautiful woman Josephine in her past adventures before she met Nicolas Lash. There are a total of four stories in this volume which includes:

1. The Case of Alfred Ravenscroft2. A Lovely Sort of Death3. Down the Darkest Trail4. Just a Glance Away

Each story details Josephine being in many different situations and is shown as a different person each time; such as being a young woman named Mathilda in 1286 A.D. France, who was accused of being a witch in “A Lovely Sort of Death” and being a young outlaw named Bonnie in 1883 Colorado who encounters a Native American man on her journey in “Down the Darkest Trail.” Each story also give out brief hints about Josephine’s past and why there are demons going after her after all these years.

What I loved about this story:

Ed Brubaker’s writing: Wow! Ed Brubaker’s writing just continues to amaze me throughout each volume of this fantastic series and I cannot believe that I waited so long to check this series out! Now, I usually have a love/hate relationship with volumes that only contain short stories that are not connected to each other in any way since I think that they usually slow down the main story line of any graphic novel. But in this case, I felt that the short stories in this volume really brought in a new creative twist to this series as each story seem to detail Josephine’s life before she met Nicolas Lash and how long she has been living, despite staying young all of those years. Now, I will admit that we still do not know exactly what Josephine is, but I think that this series is taking its time laying out the groundwork in revealing this secret as each volume goes by. I really loved the way that Ed Brubaker wove out the mystery surrounding Josephine as we still do not know about how she got the ability to mesmerize men and why the devil seems to be after her. It really makes the story much more interesting and intense to read as I cannot wait to see what kind of creature Josephine really is and whether or not Nicolas Lash will discover Josephine’s secret soon enough.

Sean Phillips’ artwork: Sean Phillips’ artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as the characters look truly realistic and I really loved the way that Sean Phillips was able to incorporate the historical aspects of each story as we get to live through the time periods that Josephine appears in, such as seeing what the Old West looked like during the 1880s or what society looked like during the 1950s.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Anyone who does not like gory violence and strong language should be warned that there is some gory violence that involves people being shot and torn apart and some strong language where they use the “f” word a couple of times, although the language here is not as strong as the previous two volumes.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fatale: West of Hell Book Three” is a fantastic treat that anyone who is a huge fan of Ed Brubaker’s “Fatale” series will love reading for many years!

He buzzed through the pie crust and bothered the baby,He also bothered the dog and got in the honey,He bothered the older sister and he bothered the cat,Is he going to get it, well imagine that!

I really enjoyed this picture book,It is definitely worth taking a look.Jim Aylesworth’s writing is witty and fun,You will learn the alphabet once you are done.The story is told through the alphabet,Of the fly’s escapades, you can bet!Imagine being bothered by a pesky fly,Why I could just really up and die!Stephen Gammell’s artwork is simply creative and messy,The images of the fly flying through everything, oh bless me!I loved the messy streak that the fly leaves behind,In his chaotic rampage through the house that puts you in a bind!The characters look so crazy, it is insane!The colorings of the artwork will flow in your brain!

So go and pick up “Old Black Fly,”It is truly fantastic, I will not lie!If you are a fan of the weird and crazy,Then this book is right up your alley!Recommended for children ages three and up,This book is harmless as a little pup!

I have read many children’s books that take place in China, but I had read a children’s book that is as inspirational and heartwarming as “Ruby’s Wish

I have read many children’s books that take place in China, but I had read a children’s book that is as inspirational and heartwarming as “Ruby’s Wish!” “Ruby’s Wish” is an Ezra Jack Keats award winning children’s book by Shirin Yim Bridges along with illustrations by Sophie Blackall that is a heartwarming experience that the whole family would relive over and over again!

In ancient China, there lived an old man who had an enormous family of over one hundred children and out of all of the children, there was a little girl named Ruby who was the most unique out of all the children, as she is always shown wearing a red outfit for any occasion due to the fact that red is her favorite color. Back during those times, even though all of Ruby’s grandfather’s children were able to attend school, only the boys were allowed to learn how to read and write, while the girls were only allowed to learn how to cook and keep house for their future husbands. Ruby, however, has managed to obtain a special talent in learning calligraphy and she desperately wishes to go to a university instead of getting married.

Will Ruby be able to attend the university just like she always wanted?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! This book was simply amazing and brilliant! I never would have thought that I would read a children’s book that really stresses the importance of education while also teaching children about the importance of equality in the school system. Shirin Yim Bridges did a brilliant job at writing this book as Ruby is shown as being a gentle yet independent girl whose only desire is to attend a university just like her male cousins, despite the fact that she was not allowed to attend university due to her gender. I loved how Shirin Yim Bridges was able to tackle such a tough subject such as how women were not allowed to attend schools while men were and gave us a protagonist who was determined to break the norms of society to get want she truly desires and that made me really root for Ruby throughout the entire story since I believe that education is extremely important to anyone and everyone should have the opportunity to obtain a good education for themselves. Sophie Blackall’s artwork is truly amazing to look at as we get to see how ancient China looked like and I really loved the exotic clothing worn by each character, especially by Ruby who is constantly seen in a different variety of red clothing.

Overall, “Ruby’s Wish” is a truly beautiful and inspiring book that teaches children to stand up for what they believe in and expresses the importance of a good education for everyone. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

I like to thank my Goodreads friend Gundula for recommending me this book!

Now, I have read many picture books that were not only funny for children, but also funny for adults and I have stumbled upon yet another picture book

Now, I have read many picture books that were not only funny for children, but also funny for adults and I have stumbled upon yet another picture book that was laugh out loud funny for both children and adults called “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Other Stories You’re Sure to Like, Because They’re all about Monsters, and some of them are also about food. You Like Food, don’t you? Well, all right then” (or we can just say “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich” to make it easier).

In this book, there are total of nineteen poems that detail several different monsters and the bad days they have, which includes “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Invisible Man Gets a Haircut,” and “The Lunchsack of Notre Dame.”

Why? Why did I not read this book when it first came out? Actually, this happens to me a lot every time my book friends are recommending me various books at the time and it usually takes me like FOREVER to get around to those books! Adam Rex was a genius in writing this book as the text is written in a rhyming text that really brings out the creativity of this book and the various jokes and humor managed to tickle my funny bone! I loved the fact that each monster in this book were written in an extremely hilarious way and I was seriously chuckling to myself at seeing the hijinks that each monster get into. My favorite poems in this book were probably the ones that involve “The Phantom of the Opera,” especially since the Phantom of the Opera kept playing random songs like “Pop goes the Weasel” and “It’s a Small World” instead of playing an aria like he originally wanted and it was fun singing the poem according to the songs that the Phantom of the Opera got stuck in his head! Adam Rex’s illustrations were creative and fun to look at as all the monsters have hilarious expressions on their faces whenever they get into embarrassing situations. My favorite image was probably of Frankenstein himself making a huge sandwich that contained all kinds of crazy ingredients that would make you scratch your head in confusion!

Parents should know that there is a brief mention of “ass” in this book, even though it is basically just describing a donkey and is not used in any inappropriate way.

Overall, “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich” is truly one awesome and hilarious book that everyone needs to check out as soon as possible! I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since some of the humor might go over some children’s heads and the use of the word “ass” might be controversial for some readers.

I would like to thank my Goodreads friend Brenda for recommending me this book!

Now a few years ago, a couple of my book friends had recommended me this cute children’s book called “The Seven Silly Eaters” by Mary Ann Hoberman alo

Now a few years ago, a couple of my book friends had recommended me this cute children’s book called “The Seven Silly Eaters” by Mary Ann Hoberman along with illustrations by Marla Frazee, to read. But I was never able to get around to reading this book until just recently and now I wish that I had actually read this book many years ago!

When Mr. and Mrs. Peters had a son named Peter, their lives were perfect except for one thing…Peter was an extremely picky eater as he would only drink warm milk and refused to drink any kind of milk that is not warm. So, Mrs. Peters ended up making Peter’s milk the way he likes it. However, things get even more exhausting for Mrs. Peters when she ended up having six more children and they each have their different preferences for food:

1. Lucy always wanted homemade pink lemonade.2. Jack would only eat applesauce.3. Mac would always take out the lumps in his oatmeal.4. Mary Lou loves homemade bread.5. The twins Flo and Fran like their eggs a different way such as, Flo wanting her eggs poached while Fran likes her eggs fried.

All of these demands eventually made Mrs. Peters a wreck, until her birthday was coming up and she thought that her family would forget all about her birthday. But, as it turns out, the kids are planning something special for Mrs. Peters’ birthday!

What are the children planning to do for Mrs. Peters’ birthday?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! I just simply adore this book! It has everything that you would expect to see from a story that is about how parents try to deal with children who are picky eaters, except in this case, Mr. and Mrs. Peters has seven children who are picky eaters (so you can imagine what that would be like)! Mary Ann Hoberman has done a fantastic job at writing this story as the story is extremely cute and speaks out to many parents who have to deal with children who are picky eaters and who try to do everything in their powers to make sure that their children are satisfied. I really loved the fact that this story manages to be more humorous about this situation because not only do I sympathize with Mrs. Peters in having to deal with her children being picky eaters, but I also enjoyed seeing the different types of food that the kids liked, such as Lucy loving homemade pink lemonade (which I love pink lemonade myself, by the way) and Mary Lou loving homemade bread (which was something I wanted to make for myself for years now). I also loved the way that Mary Ann Hoberman made the text into a rhyming scheme as it made the story more creative and fun to read! Marla Frazee’s artwork is truly cute and hilarious to look at, especially of the seven children constantly asking their mother to make them their favorite meals. I always thought that the fact that the family’s house looks so messy and chaotic really complements the chaotic situation that Mr. and Mrs. Peter’s find themselves in when they have to take care of seven children in a small house and it also makes the illustrations extremely unique to look at.

Now, this is probably not a big deal, but I was a little annoyed with the fact Mr. Peters was barely acknowledged to in this story. If you read the text of this book, you will notice that Mr. Peters is barely mentioned at all and the only way you would know that he even exists in this story is through the illustrations of him standing next to Mrs. Peters throughout each image. I usually have issues with characters that are shown in a story, but barely make an impact on the actual story and I guess that is why this issue kind of bothered me, even though I still enjoyed the story.

Overall, “The Seven Silly Eaters” is a truly enjoyable book for parents who have to deal with children who are picky eaters and children who love reading a story that is full of fun! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this story.

After reading Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ fantastic first volume of “Fatale,” I just knew that I struck gold when I picked up this

Introduction:

After reading Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ fantastic first volume of “Fatale,” I just knew that I struck gold when I picked up this graphic novel series and I was dying to read more from this series! So, that is why I picked up the second volume “Fatale: The Devil’s Business: Book Two” and man was it just as exciting and frightening as the first volume!

What is this story about?

In this volume, Nicolas Lash continues to search for more clues about the mysterious beautiful woman Josephine, as she has ties to his deceased relative Dominic Raines and he is more determined than ever to discover Josephine’s secret identity. Meanwhile, part of the story flash back to the late 1970s as Josephine tries to hide herself from the world as she believes that any man that comes near her always suffer a gruesome fate. Unfortunately, when a former star actor named Miles finds out that his friend Suzy had murdered Brother Stane at a Method Church party, he unknowingly runs to Josephine’s house and begs her to save Suzy from the Satanic Cult of the Method Church, which is led by none other than Hansel, the devil from the first book being reborn in another body.

Can Miles and Josephine escape the clutches of Hansel?

Read this book to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Ed Brubaker’s writing: Wow! Can I just say that this volume was just as intense and exciting as the first volume? Yes I can! Ed Brubaker has really outdone himself in this volume as the story is full of drama, horror and forbidden love and these elements all mingle together to create one horrifying and exciting story for this volume! I loved the way that Ed Brubaker made Josephine into such a mysterious person as we still do not know about her true identity and how she is able to possess the power to mind control people. I felt like Nicolas Lash in this story as I also want to know more about Josephine and why the Devils are searching for her and it makes me sit at the edge of my seat trying to solve this mystery myself and see who Josephine really is! I also loved the way that Ed Brubaker wrote the horror elements in this graphic novel as I did find myself cringing at a few scenes where various people are killed in a gruesome manner and I think that it greatly captures the horror element of this volume!

Sean Phillips’ artwork: Sean Phillips’ artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as the characters’ features look truly realistic and I loved the way that Sean Phillips made Josephine look so gorgeous throughout the years as it really made her stand out from the other characters and shows us that she has an unnatural quality to her character. I also loved the dark and gritty tones of the city of Los Angeles as it really brings out the horror elements of this story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like strong language and gory violence, this volume does contain many scenes of characters getting killed in gruesome ways and it does have some strong language such as the “s” word and dropping the “f” bomb popping up in the dialogues a few times.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fatale: The Devil’s Business: Book Two” is truly a fantastic volume that anyone who is a fan of Ed Brubaker’s “Fatale” series or anyone who is a fan of horror and noir graphic novels should definitely check out!

Now, I have been looking around for some picture books that were heavily raved about by various readers and I just happened to stumble upon this uniqu

Now, I have been looking around for some picture books that were heavily raved about by various readers and I just happened to stumble upon this unique book called “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt along with illustrations by Oliver Jeffers. Honestly, this book was truly creative and interesting to read all the way through!

One day in class, Duncan decided to take out his crayons to start drawing a picture when he suddenly got a stack of letters that were all address to him. When Duncan started reading the letters, he realized that all of his crayons were complaining to him about either how little he uses them or how much he uses them for his drawings and that they want to be treated better.

How can Duncan make the crayons feel better?

Read this book to find out!

I have to say that this book was pretty interesting for a book about crayons and I really loved the way that Drew Daywalt wrote the story as the story is told mostly through the letters written by the crayons and how they are complaining to Duncan, the little boy, about how they are not treated fairly and that they want to be used a bit better whenever Duncan does his drawings. I also loved the fact that we actually have a children’s story that has the characters actually protesting against being treated unfairly and yet, make that into a fun experience for small children who enjoy drawing things with their crayons. That aspect of the book makes the story extremely interesting and creative to read and I think that this book would help children be more creative with their own ideas on either writing stories or drawing pictures. Oliver Jeffers’ artwork is truly creative and cute to look at, especially of the various drawings done by the crayons as they look extremely childlike and yet they express the concerns that the crayons have with Duncan, such as the image of the Gray Crayon being upset at having to draw large animals like elephants, rhinoceroses and humpback whales and you can see the large childlike drawings of those animals at the right side of the page, while the gray crayon looks small and frightened by these animals.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because even though the story was pretty interesting, the letters that the crayons wrote to Duncan tend to be extremely long and it made me a bit frustrated since I think that the humor in the letters still would have been there, if they were to shorten the letters down to a few sentences and still get the crayons’ points across.

Overall, “The Day the Crayons Quit” is an extremely interesting and creative story about how children can use their imaginations to create something gorgeous and creative for their artwork! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the Crayons’ letters might be a bit too long for smaller children.

Now I will admit that I had never read any of Jill Shalvis’ books before and it was just luck that I happened to stumble upon Jill Shalvis’ “Lucky HarNow I will admit that I had never read any of Jill Shalvis’ books before and it was just luck that I happened to stumble upon Jill Shalvis’ “Lucky Harbor” series, with the first book in the series being called “Simply Irresistible!” This book was truly one of a kind when it comes to contemporary romance and I had enjoyed it every second of the way!

Maddie Moore’s life was less than perfect since she had lost her job and her boyfriend all at once after having a particularly horrible day. So, when Maddie finds out that her mother Phoebe Traeger had left her and her two half-sisters Chloe and Tara an inheritance in the form of an inn, Maddie heads on over to Lucky Harbor and meets up with her two sisters, who she had not seen for years. Not only is Maddie trying to bond with her two sisters, but she also ends up meeting a mysterious and sexy man named Jax Cullen and she instantly falls in love with him. But unfortunately, due to her past with her abusive ex-boyfriend Alex, Maddie starts having trouble confessing her true feelings for Jax, while at the same time, Jax is trying to figure out a way to tell Maddie about his dark and troubled past.

Wow! For the first time in reading any of Jill Shalvis’ books, I have to say that this book truly blew me away! Jill Shalvis has done a beautiful job at writing a romance story about opening up yourself to your loved ones and trying to enjoy life any way you can. I really loved this message in this book because there were times in my own life where I would have a rough time trying to do what I really want in a situation and standing by that decision, no matter how everyone else feels about that decision and Maddie’s experience in trying to think for herself really connected with me throughout the story. Probably the best things about this book were the characters themselves as they were memorable and extremely relatable to anyone. I really enjoyed Maddie’s character as she is shown to be extremely determined to stay in Lucky Harbor, despite so many odds going up against her and I really loved the fact that she tries to get out of her shy demeanor and actually take control of her own life. I loved the relationship that Maddie shares with her two sisters Tara and Chloe, as they seem to have an extremely special bond between each other and it is rare that I read a romance novel that not only focuses on the romance of the lead characters, but also focuses on their siblings and shows the importance of sibling relationships. I also loved both Tara and Chloe as they were just as insecure as Maddie, but I loved the fact that they were willing to help out Maddie in staying in Lucky Harbor, even if they wanted to leave Lucky Harbor themselves and I really loved the humorous bantering between the three sisters as they make me giggle every time they tease each other about various things! But man, let us talk about the hero of this story and that is none other than Jax Cullen himself! I seriously love Jax as he is sexy and witty while also being caring and encouraging towards Maddie and I loved the way that Jax supported Maddie throughout the story and tried to help her stand up for herself. Also, the sexy scenes between Maddie and Jax are definitely worth reading over and over again (oh Jax, you wicked boy)!

Anyone who does not like strong language, this novel does contain some strong language, such as the constant use of the “s” word and dropping the “f” bombs. Anyone who might feel uncomfortable reading these words can skim over these words as they read this novel.

Overall, “Simply Irresistible” is truly one romance novel that you have to absolutely check out if you are into sisterly love and a hot hero who is willing to help out the main characters anyway he can!

Now, I have actually gotten into the story of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” when I was little through Chuck Jones’ classic cartoon and I must say that I still en

Now, I have actually gotten into the story of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” when I was little through Chuck Jones’ classic cartoon and I must say that I still enjoyed that cartoon to this very day. So, when I finally picked up this book of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” which this version has illustrations by none other than Jerry Pinkney, I was absolutely blown away by how faithful this story was to the original tale and to the Chuck Jones cartoon!

The story starts off with a small mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi being found by an English family living in India after he was washed away from his home when a summer flood hits. It was then that Rikki-Tikki-Tavi found a new home with this English family and became a close companion with the family’s son, Teddy. But, when Rikki-Tikki-Tavi discovers that there were two snakes named Nag and Nagaina in the garden and that they were planning on killing the entire English family in order to take over the garden for themselves, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi will do anything to protect the English family from the clutches of Nag and Nagaina!

I have always enjoyed the story of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” ever since I was a child and reading this classic tale that has illustrations by Jerry Pinkney definitely added more depth to this story than what I was usually used to. Rudyard Kipling has done a brilliant job at writing this story as this story is full of adventure, intense moments and heartwarming moments, especially the moments shared between Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the English family as it shows that Rikki-Tikki-Tavi truly does care about the family and is willing to do anything to protect them from harm. I also loved how villainous both Nag and Nagaina are as their plan to kill off the entire family to take over the garden was truly vicious and it showed how far they were willing to go to take the garden for themselves. Jerry Pinkney’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as all of the characters look truly realistic, especially of the images of the English family and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as they really bring out so much realism to this story.

Parents should know that there are some scary moments in this book, especially concerning Nag and Nagaina and their plan in killing off the entire family to take over the garden. Children who are scared of snakes in general might feel a bit uncomfortable in reading this book, especially since the images of the snakes look pretty realistic and the fact that they keep threatening the family would scare small children.

Overall, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is a truly remarkable tale for anyone who is a huge fan of Rudyard Kipling’s works and who loves reading books about India and mongooses! I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the scenes with the snakes might be too frightening for some children and the length of the book might be too tiresome for some small children.

Lex Luthor is well known as Superman’s greatest enemy and I have been wondering what his ideal world would be like if Superman is viewe

Introduction:

Lex Luthor is well known as Superman’s greatest enemy and I have been wondering what his ideal world would be like if Superman is viewed as a terrible force of nature rather than the good natured savior of Earth. Well, we finally get the answer to that in Brian Azzarello’s story “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” and it was truly one experience that I would like to relive over and over again!

What is this story about?

In this graphic novel, we are treated to the world of Superman through Lex Luthor’s eyes. In this universe, Superman is shown as a red eyed alien menace that covers his true intentions by acting as the world’s greatest savior and Lex Luthor believes that he is actually the world’s only savior. This story also goes into detail about how Lex Luthor tries to create a female clone of Superman called “Hope” who also saves the world, but under Lex Luthor’s watch.

What I loved about this story:

Brian Azzarello’s writing: Now, I will admit that when I first heard about this book and saw on the cover that Lex Luthor had a blood stained “Superman” sign on his chest, I actually thought that this story was going to be about Lex Luthor literally becoming “Superman” and we would see what the world would have been like if he was Superman. However, Brian Azzarello turned my expectations on its head by actually making this story about how Lex Luthor himself viewed Superman as a person and how he knows that Superman is not really a human being and that he believes that Superman is tricking the public into thinking that he is mankind’s savior. This line of thinking really brings so much depth to this story as we finally get inside Lex Luthor’s head and see how he views Superman and how he wants the perfect world for the citizens of Metropolis and we get to see a more humanized side to Lex Luthor in his quest to make a better world for people, according to his views. There were actually some parts in this story where I actually did sympathize a bit with Lex Luthor about how he truly believes that he is the true savior of the world and not Superman and it makes me see his viewpoint of Superman in a new light.

Lee Bermejo’s artwork: Probably the best part of this graphic novel was Lee Bermejo’s artwork as they look truly gorgeous and I really loved the way that the characters’ bodies and facial expressions look so real that I actually found everything in this story to be believable! I also loved the way that Metropolis is being drawn as it feels like I am exploring the insides of an actual city!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like language in a graphic novel, there is some language in this story, but it is not as strong as some other graphic novels out there. Also, there are many moments where people are put in real danger and the scenes that involve the Toyman might either be too frightening or intense for some people.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” is probably one of the best Lex Luthor stories out there and I would highly recommend this comic book to anyone who is a huge fan of Lex Luthor!

Now, I will admit that I have not read any of Lemony Snicket’s works before (not even his famous “A Series of Unfortunate Events” series), so consider

Now, I will admit that I have not read any of Lemony Snicket’s works before (not even his famous “A Series of Unfortunate Events” series), so consider Lemony Snicket’s children’s book “The Dark,” along with illustrations by Jon Klassen to be my first book that I had read from Lemony Snicket and I must say that I really enjoyed this book!

In this book, a young boy named Laszlo was afraid of the dark, even though the dark was not afraid of him. One night, Laszlo’s night light goes out and the dark suddenly sneaks into his room and asks him to come downstairs to the basement so it could show Laszlo something.

What will the Dark show Laszlo and is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Read this book to find out!

Now, as I have mentioned before, I had never read a book by Lemony Snicket, even though I have heard of his famous “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books and I assumed that when I saw the title of this children’s book “The Dark,” I thought that this was going to be a horror filled tale that involved a young boy confronting the Dark. However, while this book can be pretty scary for small children who are afraid of the dark, this book is actually quite cute once I got through it! I loved the way that Lemony Snicket made the Dark into some kind of living personification of Laszlo’s fears as it entices Laszlo to come down the basement to get something, even though Laszlo has never been down to the basement when it gets dark. This makes the Dark a pretty frightening presence in the story as we do not know what it wants to show Laszlo or if its intentions are good or bad and it really makes the dark stand out as a huge force in this book. Jon Klassen’s artwork is both cute and frightening as Laszlo is drawn as a cute little boy who is usually shown in blue pajamas, but most of the pictures are pitch black, especially when the dark comes to visit Laszlo in his bedroom.

Overall, “The Dark” is a cute and inspiring book by Lemony Snicket that will help small children cope with the dark! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the images of the dark filling up the pages might scare some small children.

Who would have believed that I would find some stories written by Dr. Seuss that were actually lost for many decades? I was quite surprised when I pic

Who would have believed that I would find some stories written by Dr. Seuss that were actually lost for many decades? I was quite surprised when I picked up the latest book by Dr. Seuss called “Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories” and read the stories that have not been published for decades and I was always wondering when I read this book about why these stories were never published in the first place.

In this short collection of lost stories by Dr. Seuss, there are a total of four stories including an introduction about how these stories came to be by Charles D. Cohen.

Horton and the Kwuggerbug

In this story, Horton meets up with a small bug called the Kwuggerbug and the Kwuggerbug tells Horton of a Beezlenut tree where the sweetest Beezlenuts grow and said that he could lead him to the tree if Horton carries him there. However, Horton will soon realize that the Kwuggerbug is not as innocent as he seems!

Marco Comes Late

When Miss Block asks Marco about why he was late to school, Marco then weaves a tale about how a bird ends up laying an egg on his head and how he meets up with two worms and two large cats who argue with each other about whether or not Marco should keep the bird on his head.

How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town

When Officer Pat notices a small gnat flying around Thomas the cat, he then realizes that the gnat could cause so much trouble on Mulberry Street if it bites the cat and causes a catastrophic chain reaction that could destroy the town!

The Hoobub and the Grinch

The story starts out with the Grinch (no, not that Grinch) trying to sell a piece of green string to the Hoobub and telling him how the green string is much more useful than the sun.

I have to wonder about how come these stories were never published when they originally came out during the 1950s (even though the introduction by Charles D. Cohen explained why these stories were lost in the first place) as I found these stories to be just as entertaining as Dr. Seuss’ mainstream works. Dr. Seuss has once again woven an extremely creative and hilarious set of stories that will be memorable for both children and fans of Dr. Seuss in general and I really enjoyed the creative rhyming being woven into this book as they gleefully tell the stories in a humorous way. Probably my most favorite story out of this collection was “Horton and the Kwuggerbug” since I am a huge fan of Horton in general and the story about Horton being taken advantage of by a small bug really speaks out to me! Dr. Seuss’ artwork is as usual creative to look at as the characters have exaggerated features that really bring out the hilarious activities that they get involved in.

Overall, “Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories” is a fantastic collection of the lost stories of Dr. Seuss that anyone who is a huge fan of Dr. Seuss will easily enjoy! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the stories are enjoyable for small children!

Now, I have been dying to read some of Edgar Allan Poe’s works for a long time and now I finally got the chance to reread Edgar Allan Poe’s classic po

Now, I have been dying to read some of Edgar Allan Poe’s works for a long time and now I finally got the chance to reread Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem called “The Raven” in graphic novel format! The eerie atmosphere and haunting artwork by Ryan Price really made this story enjoyable to read!

Basically, this story is about a scholar who starts remembering many things from his past, including losing his lover, Lenore. Suddenly, a knock is heard at the door and a mysterious raven flies into his home. When the scholar keeps asking the Raven questions about his life, the Raven would only reply:

“NEVERMORE!”

This constant response from the Raven then causes the scholar to go a bit insane as the Raven constantly reminds him of the horrors and deep layers of humanity.

Now, I will admit that when I first read this book, I was a bit confused about what was really going on because of how the language of the poem tend to be pretty old fashioned (just like how you try to read William Shakespeare’s works, but have a hard time understanding the work due to the language being written from a much older era). But, once I read the summary at the back of this book that detailed what this poem was really all about, I started to understand this poem and its much deeper meaning of madness and grief. Edgar Allan Poe had done a beautiful job at detailing the scholar’s descent into madness after the death of his lover Lenore and when the Raven comes in and starts driving him insane by constantly telling him “NEVERMORE!” It really brought in so much fear to the story and I was seriously sitting on the edge of my seat in seeing the scholar go insane from the Raven’s constant “NEVERMORE” statements. Ryan Price’s artwork complements well with this poem as they are dark and spooky and I really loved the images of the raven looking menacingly at the scholar as it keeps yelling out “NEVERMORE!” I also loved the black and white colorings of the artwork as they really bring out the spookiness of this poem and the madness that the scholar is going through.

This book might be a bit too creepy for some readers, especially whenever it delved into the madness of the main character and the Raven constantly bothering the main character through its endless usage of “NEVERMORE!” Also, Ryan Price’s artwork might be a bit too scary for some readers, especially the images of the Raven taking up most of the pages and looking pretty menacing towards both the readers and the scholar. Also, since this book was written during the 1800s, the language of the poem might be a bit hard to understand for modern audiences.

Overall, “The Raven” is truly one classic poem from Edgar Allan Poe that fans need to read over and over again! I would recommend this book to children ages ten and up since the language might be hard to understand and some of the imagery is pretty scary.

“He was a boy on a farm and a kid with chickenpox. He was a soldier and a husband, and a gardener, and most of all, an artist.”

I have read many book

“He was a boy on a farm and a kid with chickenpox. He was a soldier and a husband, and a gardener, and most of all, an artist.”

I have read many books that were either illustrated or written by Lane Smith and some of my favorite books that were both illustrated and written by Lane Smith was “It’s a Book.” But, I had discovered this new book by Lane Smith called “Grandpa Green,” which was a Caldecott Honor book and it was seriously one of Lane Smith’s most heartwarming books ever written!

The book starts off with a young boy narrating the life of his grandfather and how his grandfather had started out as a child growing up on the farm to fighting in the war to eventually becoming a loving husband. The grandfather’s life story is told through the bush sculptures that he creates in his garden in order to help him remember his past life.

Now, I will admit that even though I did not understand this book when I first read it, when I read this book the second time around, I ended up really loving the emotional tone of the story! Lane Smith has truly crafted a heartwarming story about a boy’s grandfather’s life being told through his gardening work as the grandfather makes sculptures of people and places from his past life through the garden shrubbery. I also loved the way that Lane Smith narrated the life of the boy’s grandfather as the grandfather went through so many events during his life such as fighting in a war and then getting married as it made the story truly uplifting and passionate to read and I truly could relate to the grandfather as he went through so many events in his life that made his life truly inspiring to his great-grandson. Lane Smith’s artwork is truly gorgeous as the garden shrubbery are the ones that are mostly colored in green, which really stands out from the rest of the illustration’s more lighter tones and I loved the way that the garden shrubberies would take various shapes such as people and airplanes as the boy is describing his grandfather’s life to the readers.

Overall, “Grandpa Green” is a truly inspirational and beautiful book that children who have grandparents that have accomplished many great things in their lives should definitely check out this book! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some children might be a bit confused about what the story is all about when they read this book the first time around.

I have read many books by Judy Sierra and out of all the books I had read by Judy Sierra so far, “The Gruesome Guide to World Monsters” was one of my

I have read many books by Judy Sierra and out of all the books I had read by Judy Sierra so far, “The Gruesome Guide to World Monsters” was one of my favorites from her (even though it also had a lot to do with Henrik Drescher’s creative drawings)! So, I picked up this unusual book from Judy Sierra along with illustrations by Stephen Gammell called “The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School” and man, did I really enjoy this strange and creative book!

The book starts off with a little girl who wanted to make the perfect project for the science fair, but could not come up with a good project that would beat out her classmates’ science projects. So later that night, the girl stayed up late to look for a great science project on the internet and she stumbles upon a project called “Professor Swami’s Super Slime.” The girl ends up buying the slime and once she takes the slime out of the box, the slime suddenly started to grow large and it started to eat many people, which included her little sister, her father, her third grade teacher and her classmates!

Can the girl stop the slime from eating everything else before it is too late?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! I must admit that this book was pretty impressive for the average “school project goes wrong” storyline! Judy Sierra’s writing is extremely creative as the story is told in a rhyming prose and the rhymes managed to make the story stand out on its own as it is both hilarious and creative at the same time! I loved the fact that the girl buys a science project that manages to go wrong in a few minutes since I usually love stories where an experiment goes wrong and starts devouring the town in the process! Stephen Gammell’s artwork is as usual fun to look at as the students look very amusing with their creative outfits (since I remembered when I was in elementary school, the other kids used to mix and match their clothing to be creative)! I also loved the image of the slime monster as it truly does look threatening, with its black and white glob like appearance and the fact that it changes its color throughout each page really brings out the creepiness of the monster.

Parents should know that the images of the slime monster might be too scary for smaller children, especially since the slime monster looks so threatening and frightening as it eats the kids and the adults. For anyone who has read “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” you pretty know how Stephen Gammell’s illustrations can be pretty scary at times and this book is no exception when it comes to the slime monster. Parents might want to look over this book first before showing it to their children to see if they can handle the scenes with the slime monster.

Overall, “The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School” is a fantastic book for children who love reading books that deal with monsters that are unique in appearance and tone. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the images of the slime monster might scare smaller children.

Yes, you heard that right folks! Princess Snow has suddenly disappeared from her home planet…or has she? “Stitching Snow”“Princess Snow is missing!”

Yes, you heard that right folks! Princess Snow has suddenly disappeared from her home planet…or has she? “Stitching Snow” is a futuristic retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” that is written by R.C. Lewis. The difference with this story and the original fairy tale is that Snow is not accompanied by seven dwarfs, but rather a awesome yet complicated hero in Dane!

The book starts off with a young woman named Essie working in the mines on the planet Thanda and life there was peaceful if not a bit chaotic with her battles with the other miners and bonding with her seven faithful drones. One day however, Essie’s life changes forever when a young man named Dane crash lands on the planet Thanda and decides to kidnap her and take her to the planet Windsong. It turns out that Essie is the missing Princess Snow from the planet Windsong and Windsong has turned into a war zone due to her father King Matthias and her step mother Olivia waging war against the Exiles, since they believed that Essie was kidnapped by them. Now, Essie along with the help from Dane must travel to the planet Windsong and stop the war against the Exiles before it is too late!

Being R.C. Lewis’ debut book, I must say that I was quite impressed with the results of this book! After reading Marissa Meyer’s book “Cinder,” I was quite excited to read another novel that is a modern retelling of a classic fairy tale and I was quite impressed with R.C. Lewis’ futuristic version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!” I loved the way that R.C. Lewis started the story out with the mystery of Essie’s character as we do not know much about her past or why she is on the planet Thanda in the first place and as the story unfolds throughout the book, we start to learn more about Essie’s tragic past and how confronting the people in her past would change the future for the people of Windsong. I also loved the fact that Essie is a tough and intelligent character as it was interesting seeing her “stitch” machines together and I like the fact that she is extremely independent about her own identity when it came to whether or not she wanted to reclaim the throne of Windsong. I also liked her relationship with Dane, as you can see that she is both confused and frustrated with Dane (well, how would she feel if the guy just kidnapped her out of the blue) and she often has trouble conveying her feelings for Dane as she never fell in love with anyone before. I found Dane to be a pretty interesting character (even though the whole idea about him kidnapping Essie still rings a bit uncomfortably in my ears) as it is clear that he does care about Essie and is willing to help Essie reclaim her throne at all costs. R.C. Lewis did a fantastic job at creating a futuristic world that is enshrouded in war and you can see the misery that the people of all the planets feel about Windsong waging war against any nation that opposes them.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because I felt that the beginning of this book was moving at a slow pace and I almost gave up on this book due to the how the beginning was played out. Luckily, once Essie’s true identity is revealed and her determination to return to Windsong came into play, the story did get much more interesting. I also would have liked it better if the book actually explained more about the characters’ backgrounds so that way I could actually sympathize with half of the actions they take in this book.

Overall, “Stitching Snow” is a great read for anyone who wants to look for a modern day retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and also enjoy a good futuristic and dystopian story!

After I had finished reading “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer,” I was so interested in the premise of this graphic novel that I just had to p

Introduction:

After I had finished reading “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer,” I was so interested in the premise of this graphic novel that I just had to pick up the second volume to this series and man was “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater” even better than the first volume!

What is this story about?

After the tragic events of the first volume where Pinocchio accidentally kills Gepetto, who was turned into a vampire at that point, Pinocchio along with the Blue Fairy, Master Cherry who has been turned into a vampire at this point and Carlotta, continue to slay vampires. Meanwhile, Pinocchio meets up with a group of puppets who he had met up with when he first met Fire Eater and they help Pinocchio fight off the vampires. Unfortunately, later on Master Cherry’s vampirism starts overtaking him and he tries to kill Pinocchio and Pinocchio is forced to kill Cherry. This act then enrages the Blue Fairy and she ends up turning Pinocchio back into a real boy, which ends up killing herself. Even though Pinocchio now has time to spend with Carlotta, his love interest, he is powerless against the vampire threat without the use of his nose as a stake.

Can Pinocchio still defeat the vampires as a real boy?

What I loved about this story:

Van Jensen’s writing: Van Jensen’s writing is as usual highly creative and witty to read as Pinocchio’s adventures as a vampire slayer continues and I must say that this volume is just as action packed and emotional as the first volume! I loved the way that Van Jensen continues to develop Pinocchio’s character as we can see just how much Gepetto’s death has affected Pinocchio and why slaying vampires is so personal to him. I also loved the scenes where Pinocchio tries to have a relationship with Carlotta after he turns into a real boy since we are able to see a much softer side to Pinocchio’s personality and it was great seeing Pinocchio be happy during his life since we rarely see that side of him in the first volume. I also loved the fact that Van Jensen focused more on the character development of each character as I actually felt the pain and sorrow that Pinocchio had felt when the vampires had taken away most of his family and also his hostility towards Master Cherry being a vampire now, despite the fact that the Blue Fairy found a way to control his vampire nature. I also loved the fact that Van Jensen introduced the other puppets that Pinocchio had met when he had met Fire Eater as it brings in so much familiarity with the original source material and he manages to tie those characters into this story neatly by having them defeat the vampires like Pinocchio!

Dusty Higgins’ artwork: Dusty Higgins’ artwork truly fits with the dark and gritty mood of this story, while containing the comedic touches to the story whenever the characters are making witty comments about the situations they are in. I also loved the way that Dusty Higgins drew the vampires as they truly do look frightening and they really bring in the terrifying nature of the situation that Pinocchio is in!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only thing that annoyed me a bit in this graphic novel was that the artwork was sometimes hard to understand as the characters’ actions looked a bit too scratchy and blurry and it was a bit hard to see what kind of actions they are doing throughout this graphic novel such as whether or not they are actually slashing the vampires on certain parts of their bodies.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater” is an even more fantastic follow up to the first volume and I am definitely ready to check out the third volume of this series!

Hey, there has to be a children’s book that teaches children how to use the bathroom, am I right?

Now, it is rare that I read children’s books that t

Hey, there has to be a children’s book that teaches children how to use the bathroom, am I right?

Now, it is rare that I read children’s books that teach children how to use the bathroom, but I never would have thought that I would read a children’s book about using the toilet written by Mo Willems! “Time to Pee!” is a companion book to Mo Willems’ “Time to Say Please!” book and it is another book that teaches young children about how to do certain things (in this case, teaching children how to use the bathroom), while starring everyone’s favorite blue mice!

This book teaches young children how to use the toilet whenever they need to go to the bathroom and the blue mice as usual try to help out the children in learning how to use the toilet by taking them through each step slowly and holding up signs to encourage the children.

Once again, Mo Willems has created another brilliant installment in his “Time to” series and I enjoyed this book as much as I did for “Time to Say Please!” I really loved the fact that Mo Willems tackles a subject that is often taboo for children’s books, which is teaching children how to use the toilet when they need to go to the bathroom. It really made this book stand out from the other children’s books I have read that deal with unique topics such as toilet training and I really loved the way that Mo Willems takes each step of potty training slowly as it truly does help children learn how to use the toilet. Mo Willems’ illustrations are as usual funny and cute to look at, especially of the numerous blue mice showing up in the images, providing signs that would help out the children in their potty training while doing random activities like dancing in the background.

Overall, “Time to Pee” is a fantastic companion book to “Time to Say Please!” that children who are also going through potty training can read to learn how to use the toilet correctly. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the story is easy enough to help small children with their potty training.

So I just got through with reading the first volume of Tom Taylor’s take on “Injustice: Gods Among Us” and I must admit that reading t

Introduction:

So I just got through with reading the first volume of Tom Taylor’s take on “Injustice: Gods Among Us” and I must admit that reading that volume had gotten me pumped up for the second volume of this series! So, I went to the library to pick up the second volume of “Injustice: Gods Among Us” and man, was it just as interesting as the first volume!

What is this story about?

Continuing off from the first volume, Superman along with the Justice League continues to promote peace in the world, with the help from a truly unlikely source, Lex Luthor! Meanwhile, Batman continues to thwart Superman’s plans for world peace by instigating a spy into the Justice League and once this spy is revealed to the team, Superman starts making everything personal between him and Batman as he plans to reveal Batman’s true identity to the world!

What I loved about this story:

Tom Taylor’s writing: Tom Taylor has once again created a fascinating and intense story about how the rivalry between Superman and Batman continues to escalate as both heroes are trying to figure out ways to protect the world from each other. I really liked the fact that Tom Taylor explored the tough choices that the heroes have to make in order to have a more peaceful world as you have some of the heroes siding with Superman on maintaining world peace while you have the other heroes siding with Batman to prevent Superman from going off the deep end. I enjoyed the scenes where the heroes from both sides of the rivalry were questioning both Batman and Superman’s motives for their plans as it made the characters really believable to me and it also had me thinking about whether or not Superman and Batman really had everyone’s best interests in their minds. Another great aspect of this series was the bantering between Harley Quinn, Green Arrow and Black Canary as I think that they were the funniest characters in this entire series so far and I loved the way that they all bring humor to this story, even though the majority of this story is pretty dark.

Jheremy Raapack, Tom Derenick, Bruno Redondo and Mike S. Miller’s artwork: Just like the previous volume, the collaboration between Jheremy Raapack, Tom Derenick, Bruno Redondo and Mike S. Miller on the artwork had lent itself greatly to the characters and the events happening in this volume! I loved the way that all the artists in this book made the action sequences so amazing to look at, especially with the images of the explosions whenever a city is being blown up!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because I still have hang ups about the whole “heroes vs. heroes” story lines that have been plaguing both DC and Marvel for years now. Even though I will admit that I am enjoying this story, especially since we get to see Superman’s more aggressive side, it still feels like another “Batman vs. Superman” story that I have read so many times over and I wished that something different would be done about that rivalry (I guess we will see in the next few volumes)!

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume Two” is another great volume that details Superman’s growing aggressiveness with his plans for world peace and I definitely cannot wait to see how this battle between Superman and the world will play out in later volumes!

Now, I am a major fairy tale and folktale enthusiast, so whenever I see any form of fairy tales and folktales in books (wheth

3.5 stars

Introduction:

Now, I am a major fairy tale and folktale enthusiast, so whenever I see any form of fairy tales and folktales in books (whether it is through graphic novels or a retelling of the fairy tale), I just have to pick up those series! So, imagine my surprise when I had just picked up a new graphic novel that twists your favorite fairy tales and fables called “Fractured Fables” (think of the “Fractured Fairy Tales” segment from the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons) into more modern day interpretations of your favorite fairy tales!

What is this story about?

This collection has over thirty fairy tales and fables that are being retold in a more modern day twist and is being written by several well-known comic book writers such as Bryan Talbot, Doug TenNapel, Jill Thompson, Peter David, Nick Spencer and Laini Taylor. Some of the stories featured in this collection are:

The Secret Princess Society

Written by Marie Cruz Illustrated by Whilce Portacio

Mimi had a little sister named Meg who would constantly follow her everywhere and do everything that her big sister was doing, which would sometimes annoy Mimi. One day however, when Meg started enrolling in a new dance class and made some new friends, she ended up joining a mysterious club called the “Secret Princess Society.” This club requires for the girls to go into a dark forest and meet up with some strange guests who they would dance with all throughout the night. Mimi then discovers that something is wrong with this mysterious place and she tries to save her little sister Meg from whatever forces are controlling her sister and her friends!

This is the House that Jack Built

Written by Neil KleidIllustrated by Fernando Pinto

The story starts off with a man named Jack building a house when two boys, who lived with him, started throwing their toys out of the window. Then things get much more chaotic later on when a bunch of neighbors, their kids and some high school students ended up crashing into Jack’s house and started partying at Jack’s house!

Can Jack get rid of these unwelcome guests?

Pie Eating Contest (Tortoise and the Hare)

Written by Joshua WilliamsonIllustrated by Vicente Navarrete

In this more unusual spin on the classic fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” the tortoise and the hare get involved in a pie eating contest and even though the Hare was able to eat more than the Tortoise, well…. Let us just say that eating too much pie does a number on your stomach!

What I loved about this story:

The writing: As a graphic novel that has a huge collection of different stories, this collection has various writers that all came together to write their own twists on famous fairy tales and fables and man, was this graphic novel one wild ride! There were a couple of stories in this collection that really made me smile and laugh at the hilarious nature of these stories and my favorite stories in this collection would have to be “Spanking Robots (Pinocchio),” which is written by Laini Taylor along with artwork by Jim Di Bartolo, “Cinderella,” which is written by Nick Spencer along with artwork by Rodin Esquejo and “The Real Princess (The Princess and the Pea),” which is written by Alexander Grecian along with artwork by Christian Ward. These stories were my favorites because they put an interesting twist to the classic fairy tales, especially “Cinderella” and “The Real Princess” and I really enjoyed how these twists just made the stories even more interesting!

The artwork: As with many graphic novels that has a collection of stories, there were some artworks in this collection that I really enjoyed. My favorite artwork in this graphic novel came from the works of Christian Ward and Rodin Esquejo, as they were gorgeous to look at and they were probably the most realistic artwork in this collection, since the majority of the artwork in this graphic novel had a cartoony vibe.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I gave this graphic novel a three and a half star rating was because even though there were some good stories in this collection, most of the stories I had read were just average to me and not that interesting at all. I was a bit irritated at the fact that most of these stories would end so abruptly without a good conclusion to the situations that the characters are in and it just made it difficult for me to really get into the stories. Now, I understand that because there are various writers writing a different story, the stories would have to be shortened in some kind of way to make room for all the stories, but still, I would have liked it better if some of the stories have some kind of closure that would satisfy me.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fractured Fables” may have some hilarious and creative stories that twist our favorite classic fairy tales, but there were too many average stories in this collection that kind of downplayed my interest for the stories in this graphic novel.

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war…THIS IS NOT THAT WORLD.”

After5.5 stars!

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war…THIS IS NOT THAT WORLD.”

After reading the seriously explosive ending of “Daughter of Smoke and Bone,” I just had to run to my local library and grab the sequel book, “Days of Blood and Starlight!” Now, saying that this book is darker and edgier than the first book is certainly an understatement!

Karou finally finds out who she really is: Madrigal, who is a chimera of the Kirin clan and Akiva was an angel who had loved her, despite the fact that their races, the Chimeras and the Angels were at war with each other. Unfortunately, once Karou broke the wishbone that would reveal her memories back to her, she also discovers that Akiva had murdered her people, including Brimstone, after Madrigal was originally killed years ago. This act had caused Karou to turn her back on Akiva and work with Thiago, the wolf leader who is the pride of the Chimera race, to bring dead chimera back to life so that they could create an army to take down the angels. Meanwhile, Akiva, Liraz and Hazael have their own battle to fight as they try to defeat their father, the Emperor Joram, in order to stop this endless battle between the angels and the chimeras.

Oh my goodness! Can I say that I enjoyed this book much more than the first book, despite how things got even darker and edgier for the characters? Laini Taylor has certainly turned our expectations for the perfect romance story on its head, as we get to see how betrayal between two lovers can ruin a relationship in a devastating way. I loved the way that Laini Taylor made this book much darker than the first book as this book deals with the war between the angels and the chimeras and how it is affecting all of the characters involved, especially Karou and Akiva. There were many scenes in this book that made me cringe, such as the scenes where Thiago orders the chimera army to “cut smiles” onto the angels’ faces (eek…), so I would say that this book did a pretty awesome job at detailing the gruesome moments of war and brutality. But what really stood out to me in this book was how broken Karou and Akiva’s relationship is after they discovered the truth about each other in the first book. Now, I have read many romance novels where things were alright between the main couple and they were able to work out their problems towards the end of the story, but I had never read a romance novel where the crushing reality of being betrayed had left an enormous impact on the story throughout the entire book and that is what made this book so interesting and unique to me since I rarely see a romance novel where we see a couple look at each other with distrust throughout the entire story for good reasons. But, even though this book was darker and edgier than the first book, we still have our happy go-lucky couple Zuzana and Mik lighting up the mood by standing by Karou while making light hearted jokes throughout the book. I loved the chemistry shared between Zuzana and Mik as it is obvious that they truly care for each other and I just loved the hilarious bantering between them as I found myself giggling whenever they make so many jokes!

Since this book actually details the destruction of war, there are many disturbing moments in this book where characters are killed off or tortured in gruesome ways. I have mentioned that one of the torture methods that Thiago used on the angels, which is cutting up the angels’ faces and making them look like they are smiling, is probably one of the most disturbing moments in this book and it might make some people really uncomfortable reading it.

Overall, “Days of Blood and Starlight” is seriously one paranormal romance book you just got to pick up and I am definitely picking up the third book in the series Dreams of Gods & Monsters or Night of Cake & Puppets if I want to read about Zuzana and Mik’s relationship!

Now, I had read many folktales that dealt with the main characters getting a magic pot that gives them endless food, but then they keep forgetting theNow, I had read many folktales that dealt with the main characters getting a magic pot that gives them endless food, but then they keep forgetting the magic words that would stop the pot from giving them more food, which usually ends up in disaster for the main characters. But, I must admit that I was surprised that there was another folktale out there that dealt with this situation and this story is called “The Magic Porridge Pot” by Paul Galdone!

In this story, a little girl and her mother were so poor that they only had a small piece of bread to satisfy their hunger. One day, the little girl ends up going into the forest to find some food when she meets an old woman, who gives her a magic porridge pot that would sprout out porridge whenever a person says these words:

“Boil, Little Pot, Boil!”

However, in order to stop the porridge from rising too much from the pot, the person would have to say these words:

“Stop, Little Pot, Stop!”

So, the little girl and her mother were able to have enough to eat everyday with the magic porridge pot, until one day, the little girl went to visit her friend, leaving her mother alone with the magic porridge pot. The mother then decided to get some more porridge from the magic pot, but unfortunately, she did not remember the words to stop the porridge from rising in the pot and the porridge ended up flooding the entire village!

Will the little girl save the village from the porridge in time?

Read this book to find out!

Paul Galdone did a pretty interesting take on the classic tall tale from the Low Countries of Breughel’s time and I really liked the fact that this story involved magic and humor that dealt with taking responsibility for your own actions as it made the premise pretty interesting to read through. But probably the best part about this book were Paul Galdone’s illustrations as the characters and the environment that they are in look a bit scratchy and yet, are extremely detailed and brilliantly shows the humorous and intense situation of the porridge flooding the village! I also loved the way that Paul Galdone drew the villagers’ outfits as they look like they came out of the Renaissance Age and they really bring an old fashioned feel to the story.

The reason why I gave this book a three star rating was because while I liked the premise of this book, I felt that I had actually read this story before (Strega Nona anyone)? I also felt that this type of story was handled a bit better in “Strega Nona” since the characters in “Strega Nona” were more fleshed out than the characters in this book. The characters in this book just felt so flat to me that I could not really get invested into this story and I wished that the characters in this book were fleshed out better so that I could have enjoyed this story more.

Overall, “The Magic Porridge Pot” might have a pretty interesting premise, but the story slightly suffered from lack of character development that made it hard for me to be interested in the overall story in this book....more

FINALLY! THIS IS IT! We have finally come upon the final volume of Kentaro Yabuki’s “Black Cat” series and this is definitely one volume that you shouFINALLY! THIS IS IT! We have finally come upon the final volume of Kentaro Yabuki’s “Black Cat” series and this is definitely one volume that you should check out whenever you can!

In this volume, Creed and Train finally battle it out to the death and Train is having a hard time trying to break through Creed’s god like new powers. Meanwhile, Eve and Sven started fighting a new powerful force from Creed’s Apostles of the Stars, the Demon Star Force and it seems that these new androids are much more powerful than Sven and Eve could ever imagine!

Can Train defeat Creed and finally bring an end to Creed’s reign of terror?

Read this volume to find out!

Whew! I thought that I would never get to the final volume of Kentaro Yabuki’s “Black Cat” series! I have been enjoying this series ever since the first volume came out and it has been an honor to read through this series and appreciate the characters’ efforts in stopping Creed’s war against Chronos and the world, while also developing each character along the way. I really loved the way that Kentaro Yabuki tied up everyone’s story lines in this volume as it is a perfect way to end a series and I really loved the fact that the characters came a long way (especially Eve and Train) from their original goals in the first few volumes to changing their goals as their characters progressed throughout the stories. I really enjoyed the fighting sequences between the characters, especially between Train and Creed, as they were all intense and they really raised the stakes for the characters. I was quite surprised that this is the most action-packed volume of the entire series as the series as a whole managed to balance both action and character development in the same panels, while the majority of this volume was focused on the fighting sequences. Kentaro Yabuki’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as the expressions shown on the characters’ faces whenever they are angry or frightened are extremely realistic and they made me feel so much emotion for the characters themselves.

The biggest problem I had with this volume was that I felt that the ending was a bit too anticlimactic, meaning that I wish that more was done with the characters after the big battle with Creed and how their lives had changed after that event. I also felt that the ending was a bit rushed as we do not see much of what happens to the Apostles of the Stars and Chronos after Train’s battle with Creed and I would have liked it if they had explained more about how Chronos and the Apostles of the Stars had gotten on with their lives after the battle with Creed.

Overall, “Black Cat: A Carefree Tomorrow Volume 20” is a truly fantastic finale to the “Black Cat” series and anyone who is a huge fan of Kentaro Yabuki’s “Black Cat” series should definitely give this volume a whirl!